The last days of April have been marked by deaths within Venezuela’s prisons. In just four days, at least nine prisoners died inside Venezuelan prisons.
The Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) documented nine deaths between April 20 and 24, as a result of armed violence, lack of medical care and inhumane prison conditions that violate the constitutional mandate of protection of life.
The last death was recorded on the morning of this Friday, April 24, in the Tocuyito prison, in the state of Carabobo.
The victim was identified as José Ramón Yelamo Zárraga. According to reports, his health condition deteriorated irreversibly due to the lack of timely medical assistance from the prison authorities, as reported by the OVP, through its social networks.
“It is regrettable how diseases continue to advance uncontrolled within detention centers, while those deprived of liberty remain without access to diagnoses, treatments or follow-up, which aggravates pathologies that under normal conditions are preventable or treatable,” reads the statement published on the social network X.
A death in Uribana
The OVP, which defends the rights of those deprived of liberty in Venezuela, reported that at the Sergeant “David Viloria” Penitentiary Center, known as Uribana, located in Barquisimeto, Lara state, Rosqui Norberto Escalona died on April 22.
The organization pointed out that the man died in conditions of total abandonment and under a context of cruel treatment, without having received the medical care that his condition required.
Massacre in Yare III
On April 21, the death of at least five inmates at the Yare III prison, in the state of Miranda, was reported after an alleged fight, according to state authorities, a version that was rejected by relatives who reported that these people died as a result of gunshots.
The deceased were identified as Keivin Eduardo Matamoros, Eliecer José Córdoba García, Erkin Josué Ramos Flores, José Pascual Andrade Aguilar and Jean Carlos Jiménez Barrios.
The situation in Yare III originated on the weekend of April 19, when visits were abruptly suspended and the prison population was isolated, only allowing the entry of food. The Public Ministry reported that it would carry out an investigation, following complaints from relatives about violent confrontations that began due to rumors of transfers.
For its part, the Ministry for the Penitentiary Service maintains that the events were the consequence of a collective fight that escalated into a riot in the maximum security area. According to the official version, the authorities have already regained control of the facility, although the Ministry has limited itself to confirming the conflict without delving into the exact causes or the condition of the rest of the inmates.
Deaths at El Rodeo
The OVP reported that, last Monday, April 20, in the El Rodeo prison complex, in the state of Miranda, Ovidio José Madriz Mendoza, held in Rodeo III, died of uncertain causes and without clarity about his medical history in the facility.
While Deivi Enrique García, who was in State custody at Rodeo IV, died allegedly from respiratory arrest. His case attracted attention because he was an inmate who did not appear in public records, according to the OVP.
State Responsibility
In the statement published by the OVP they held the Venezuelan government responsible, since it is responsible for guaranteeing the life and health of those in its custody, and recalled that the omission of medical care constitutes a serious violation of human rights and a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
The organization demanded an immediate investigation to determine responsibilities and the urgent adoption of measures to guarantee effective medical care within penitentiary centers.
“When the government has absolute control over a person, it also has the obligation to protect their life. That is why institutional silence, the lack of responses and the repetition of these events only reinforce that life inside Venezuelan prisons is at permanent risk,” they expressed.
